Systems and methods for remote deposit of checks

ABSTRACT

Remote deposit of checks can be facilitated by a financial institution. A customer&#39;s general purpose computer and image capture device may be leveraged to capture an image of a check and deliver the image to financial institution electronics. Additional data for the transaction may be collected as necessary. The transaction can be automatically accomplished utilizing the images and data thus acquired.

This application is a continuation of and hereby claims priority topending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/765,412, entitled “Systemsand Methods for Remote Deposit of Checks,” filed on Feb. 12, 2013, whichis a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/963,513, filedon Dec. 8, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,392,332, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/591,247 filed Oct. 31, 2006, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,873,200, all of which are incorporated herein in theirentirety.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related by subject matter to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/591,014, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/590,971, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/590,963, U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/591,025, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/591,003, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/590,974, also entitled “Systems and Methods forRemote Deposit of Checks.”

This application is also related by subject matter to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/321,025, U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/321,027, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/320,998 all filed onDec. 29, 2005.

BACKGROUND

As described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/321,025, checkstypically provide a safe and convenient method for an individual topurchase goods and/or services. To use a check, the individual usuallymust open a checking account, or other similar account, at a financialinstitution and deposit funds, which are then available for laterwithdrawal. To pay for goods and/or services with a check, the payor(i.e., the buyer) usually designates a payee (i.e., the seller) and anamount payable on the check. In addition, the payor often signs thecheck. Once the check has been signed, it is usually deemed negotiable,meaning the check may be validly transferred to the payee upon delivery.By signing and transferring the check to the payee, the payor authorizesfunds to be withdrawn from the payor's account on behalf of the payee inreturn for the goods and/or services provided by the payee.

Checks have certain advantages over other forms of payment, such ascash. For example, while often considered the most liquid type of asset,cash also may be the least secure. Unlike a check, cash is usuallyfreely transferable and does not have to be endorsed. Thus, the ownerand possessor of cash is most often the same individual. Because cash isfreely transferable, cash that is lost or stolen typically cannot berecovered. Therefore, the risks associated with cash transactions areoften unacceptable, particularly with respect to transactions notconducted in person (e.g., by mail) and/or involving large sums ofmoney. A check, on the other hand, provides a payor with more securitybecause the check usually requires a payor to specify both the personand amount to be paid. Furthermore, as noted above, the check is usuallynot valid until it is properly signed by the payor. These safeguardshelp to reduce the risk that money will be lost and/or stolen and ensurethat the proper payee receives the proper amount of money.

Cash may have other disadvantages as well. For example, because cash isfreely transferable, there may be little or no verifiable transactionhistory. It is often desirable for a payor and/or payee to have physicalproof that a particular transaction took place. This typically requiresthat the payor receive a receipt. However, receipts may contain errorsand can be easily misplaced. In contrast, a bank processing a check willordinarily create a transaction history, which may include the identityof the payee, the amount to be paid, the date of the payment, and thesignature of the payor. This enables both a payor and payee toindependently verify the accuracy of most transactions involving apayment by check.

While a check may provide a payor with a convenient and secure form ofpayment, receiving a check may put certain burdens on the payee, such asthe time and effort required to deposit the check. For example,depositing a check typically involves going to a local bank branch andphysically presenting the check to a bank teller. In addition to thetime commitment that may be required, visiting a bank branch may beproblematic for the payee if the bank's hours of operation coincide withthe payee's normal hours of employment. Thus, the payee may be requiredto leave work early and/or change work schedules.

A check may pose other burdens for the payee. As noted above, a checkmay not be freely transferable, thereby limiting the payee's ability touse funds from the check. For example, it is usually difficult to forthe payee to purchase goods and/or services using a check issued by thepayor. While the check may be endorsed and accepted by a third party,such transactions are often disfavored because the third party may notknow the payor and, thus, may not be willing to accept the risk that thepayor has insufficient funds to cover the check. Therefore, the payeemay not have access to the funds from the check until the payee depositsthe check at the bank, the check has cleared and the funds have beencredited to the payee's account. The payee may have to wait even longerif the payee chooses to deposit the check by mail. Therefore, there is aneed for a convenient method of remotely depositing a check whileenabling the payee to quickly access the funds from the check.

SUMMARY

The described embodiments contemplate a system, method andcomputer-readable medium with computer-executable instructions forremotely redeeming a negotiable instrument. In an embodiment, the novelmethod may include delivering, via a publicly accessible computernetwork, a software component to a customer-controlled general purposecomputer. The customer is instructed to identify an account via saidcomputer, and to provide an image of at least a front side of a check,for example by scanning the check and appropriately rotating andcropping the scanned image as necessary. The image passes from scanneror other image capture apparatus to the software component, whichmanages delivery to bank servers.

In another embodiment, the novel method may include receiving, at aserver computer, a customer request for a customer capability to make atleast one check deposit from a customer-controlled general purposecomputer. The software component for facilitating a check image captureprocess is then delivered to the customer. A customer identification ofan account for a deposit and an image of a front side of a check isreceived, and optical character recognition (OCR) is performed on aMagnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) line location of the image.The received information and OCR information can be used in completingthe deposit.

In another embodiment, the novel method may include receiving a customeridentification of an account for a deposit, receiving a first image of afront side of a check, wherein said first image is in a first fileformat, e.g. JPEG, and wherein said first image is received from acustomer-controlled general purpose computer. A second image of saidfront side of a check may then be created by converting said first imageinto a second file format, e.g. a bi-tonal TIFF. A log file may begenerated comprising one or more of said first image and said secondimage, in addition to a variety of other potentially useful informationfor processing and/or troubleshooting the deposit transaction.

Additional advantages and features of the invention are described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofpreferred embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunctionwith the appended drawings. For the purposes of illustration, there isshown in the drawings exemplary embodiments; however, the invention isnot limited to the specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a broad view of a system in which the describedembodiments may be employed.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for facilitating deposit of a check from acustomer-controlled general purpose computer.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for processing a check deposit.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for processing check deposits, withparticular applicability to generation and use of an appropriate logfile.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary log file and log file viewingapplication.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary duplicate checking procedure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain specific details are set forth in the following description andfigures to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments ofthe invention. Certain well-known details often associated withcomputing and software technology are not set forth in the followingdisclosure, however, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the variousembodiments of the invention. Further, those of ordinary skill in therelevant art will understand that they can practice other embodiments ofthe invention without one or more of the details described below.Finally, while various methods are described with reference to steps andsequences in the following disclosure, the description as such is forproviding a clear implementation of embodiments of the invention, andthe steps and sequences of steps should not be taken as required topractice this invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system in which the described embodimentsmay be employed. System 100 may include account owner 110, e.g., a bankcustomer who may be located, for example, at the customer's privateresidence. The account owner 110 may be utilizing a customer-controlled,general purpose computer 111. A general purpose computer 111 isgenerally a Personal Computer (PC) running one of the well-knownWINDOWS® brand operating systems made by MICROSOFT® Corp., or aMACINTOSH® (Mac) brand computer, running any of the APPLE® operatingsystems. General purpose computers are ubiquitous today and the termshould be well understood. A general purpose computer 111 may be in adesktop or laptop configuration, and generally has the ability to runany number of applications that are written for and compatible with thecomputer's operating system. The term “general purpose computer”specifically excludes specialized equipment as may be purchased by abusiness or other commercial enterprise, for example, for thespecialized purpose of high-speed, high-volume check deposits. Aparticular advantage of embodiments of the invention is its ability tooperate in conjunction with electronics that today's consumers actuallyown or can easily acquire, such as a general purpose computer, ascanner, and a digital camera.

General purpose computer 111 may also be “customer-controlled.” A commonexample of a customer-controlled computer would be a typical computerlocated in a private residence. The owner of such a computer typicallyhas the power to install programs and configure the computer as theywish, subject to certain security restrictions that may be imposed bythe hardware or software manufacturers. A customer-controlled computerneed not be located in a private residence, however. For example,computers in college dormitories, in workplace offices, and so forth mayalso be considered to be “customer-controlled.”

An example of a computer that would not be consideredcustomer-controlled would be an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) that istypically controlled by a bank or other business. Although a customermay access and utilize an ATM machine, the ATM machine is notcustomer-controlled because the allowed uses of the ATM machine arehighly restricted. Relevant factors in determining whether a machine iscustomer controlled are thus the scope of operations that a customer mayperform using the machine, and extent to which the customer canreconfigure the machine in some way by adding software and/or hardwarecomponents.

One of the applications that may run on a general purpose computer 111in connection with the invention is a browser. Common browsers in usetoday are, for example, the popular INTERNET EXPLORER® line of browsersmade by MICROSOFT® Corp., the FIREFOX® browsers distributed via theMOZILLA® open source project, and the NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR® browsers alsodistributed via the MOZILLA® open source project. Browsers generallyallow users to point to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), and therebyretrieve information such as a web page. For example, a browserapplication on computer 111 could retrieve a web page that is kept atserver 131, and display the web page to the account owner 110, as isgenerally known and appreciated in the industry and by the generalpublic.

Another application, or set of applications, that may run on a generalpurpose computer 111 in connection with the invention comprises “virtualmachine” technologies such as the JAVA® virtual machine softwaredistributed by SUN MICROSYSTEMS® Corp, and .NET® Framework distributedby MICROSOFT® Corp. In general, such applications facilitate executionof computer programs in a variety of computing environments. Forexample, a JAVA® applet is a computer program (which may bealternatively referred to herein as a “software component”) that canexecute on any computer running the JAVA® virtual machine software. Theapplet may be provided to virtual machine software in a “source code”format, and may be compiled by a “just in time” compiler, so as to putthe applet in a form that can be executed by the hardware associatedwith the particular computing device. These technologies are known inthe art and may be utilized in connection with certain embodiments ofthe invention as described herein.

An image capture device 112 may be communicatively coupled to thecomputer 112. Image capture device may be, for example, a scanner ordigital camera. Computer 111 may comprise software that allows the userto control certain operations of the image capture device 112 from thecomputer 111. For example, modern scanner users may be familiar with theTWAIN software often used to control image capture from a computer 111.Similarly, digital cameras often ship along with software that allowsusers to move images from the camera to a computer 111, and may alsoprovide additional functions, such as photo editing functions crop androtate.

Financial institutions 130, 140 and 150 may be any type of entitycapable of processing a transaction involving a negotiable instrument.For example, financial institutions 130, 140 and 150 may be a retailbank, investment bank, investment company, regional branch of theFederal Reserve, clearinghouse bank and/or correspondent bank. Anegotiable instrument is usually a type of contract that obligates oneparty to pay a specified sum of money to another party. By way ofexample, and not limitation, negotiable instruments may include a check,draft, bill of exchange, promissory note, and the like.

Financial institution 130 is illustrated as associated with a server131. Financial institution 130 may maintain and operate server 131 forthe purposes of communicating with customers such as 110. Alternatively,such server may be maintained and operated by one or more third partyvendors who act under the instructions of the financial institution 130,but possess skills and resources that may be more effective in competentoperation of electronics. Such arrangements are well known in theindustry and in this case the server 131 is nonetheless considered to be“associated” with the financial institution 130.

Account owner 110 may be an individual who owns account 160, which maybe held at financial institution 130. As such, account owner 110 may bedescribed as a customer of financial institution 130. Account 160 may beany type of account for depositing funds, such as a savings account,checking account, brokerage account, and the like. Account owner 110 maycommunicate with financial institution 130 by way of communicationnetwork 120, which may include an intranet, the Internet, a local areanetwork (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN), a cellular network, a voice over internet protocol(VoIP) network, and the like. Account owner 110 may communicate withfinancial institution 130 by phone, email, instant messaging, facsimile,and the like.

In one contemplated embodiment, network 120 is a publicly accessiblenetwork such as the Internet, which can presently be accessed from manyprivate residences and many public places such as college campuses,airports, coffee shops, and restaurants throughout the United States aswell as many other countries of the world. A variety of technologies areavailable to establish secure connections over such a public network, sothat data transmitted between computer 111 and a server 131 associatedwith the institution 130 remains either inaccessible or indecipherableby third parties that may intercept such data. The invention may makeuse of any such security technologies.

Financial institutions 130, 140 and 150 may communicate with each othervia a network 125. Network 125 may be a publicly accessed network suchas 120. Alternatively, network 125 may have certain characteristics thatdiffer from network 120, due to the different requirements ofbank-to-bank communications. For example, one might envision certainsecurity features and access restrictions being more important inbank-to-bank communications.

In an embodiment, account owner 110 may wish to deposit a check that isdrawn from account 170 at financial institution 150. Account owner 110may deposit the check into account 160 by converting the check intoelectronic data and sending the data to financial institution 130.Aspects of the invention may thus comprise systems and methods carriedout by the account owner 110 and his computer 111. Aspects of theinvention may also comprise systems and methods carried out by thefinancial institution 130 and their server 131 or other electronics thatfacilitate and enable such deposit by the account owner 110.

For example, account owner 110 may convert the check into a digitalimage by scanning the front and/or back of the check using image capturedevice 112. Account owner 110 may then send the image to financialinstitution 130 using the systems and methods described herein. Pleaserefer to FIG. 2 and corresponding description for a detailed exemplaryembodiment of systems and methods for facilitating and processing acheck deposit transaction. Upon receipt of the image, financialinstitution 130 may credit the funds to account 160. Financialinstitution 130 may clear the check by presenting the digital image toan intermediary bank, such as a regional branch of the Federal Reserve,a correspondent bank and/or a clearinghouse bank.

For example, the check may be cleared by presenting the digital image tofinancial institution 140, which may be a regional branch of the FederalReserve, along with a request for payment. Financial institution 130 and150 may have accounts at the regional branch of the Federal Reserve. Aswill be discussed in greater detail below, financial institution 130 maycreate a substitute check using the image provided by account owner 110and present the substitute check to financial institution 140 forfurther processing. Upon receiving the substitute check, financialinstitution 140 may identify financial institution 150 as the payingbank (e.g., the bank from which the check is drawn). This may beaccomplished using a nine-digit routing number located on the bottomleft hand corner of the check. A unique routing number is typicallyassigned to every financial institution in the United States. Financialinstitution 140 may present the substitute check to financialinstitution 150 and request that the check be paid. If financialinstitution 150 verifies the check (i.e., agrees to honor the check),financial institution 140 may then settle the check by debiting fundsfrom financial institution 150 and crediting funds to financialinstitution 130. Financial institution 150 may then debit funds fromaccount 170.

It will be appreciated that the preceding examples are for purposes ofillustration and explanation only, and that an embodiment is not limitedto such examples. For example, financial institution 150 may be acorrespondent bank (i.e., engaged in a partnership with financialinstitution 130). Thus, financial institution 130 may bypass theregional branch of the Federal Reserve and clear the check directly withfinancial institution 150. In addition, account 160 and account 170 mayboth be held at financial institution 130, in which case the check maybe cleared internally.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for facilitating deposit of a check from acustomer-controlled general purpose computer. The various steps of FIG.2 may be viewed as performed by a server computer associated with afinancial institution, in conjunction with a software component thatoperates from a customer-controlled general purpose computer. Various ofthe steps are contemplated as performed by the server, while variousother steps are contemplated as performed by the software component.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the darker boxes indicate stepsthat are performed by the server, for example by delivering informationto the user through the user's browser application. Making informationavailable on a server to customers with a browser is considered to beeffectively “delivering” such information for the purposes of thisdocument. The lighter boxes inside 211 indicate steps that are performedby the software component, as it executes on the customer computer.Those of skill will recognize that alternative configurations arereadily achievable by moving functions from server to software componentor vice-versa.

The server may first deliver a software component to thecustomer-controlled general purpose computer 200. This may be done inresponse to a customer request for the capability of making depositsfrom his computer. In one embodiment, the financial institution mayprovide such capability only to customers that meet predeterminedcriteria of trustworthiness. For example, it can be required that thecustomer's accounts are in good standing, that the customer relationshiphas lasted a predetermined amount of time, that the customer has apredetermined number of financial service products with the financialinstitution (e.g. bank accounts, mortgages, insurance policies, etc.),that the customer has a predetermined level of assets with the financialinstitution, and so forth.

The software component may be configured to facilitate the deposittransaction in a variety of ways as illustrated herein. In oneembodiment, the software component may be compatible with the JAVA® or.NET® technologies described above. Such configurations allow forwidespread dissemination and successful operation in a wide variety ofcomputing environments as may exist on customer-controlled generalpurpose computers.

Where the software component is written for JAVA®, .NET®, or any othersuch technology, it is useful in step 200 to first determine whether thecustomer-controlled general purpose computer has an appropriate virtualmachine application installed, e.g. JAVA® Virtual Machine (JVM) or .NET®framework. If the computer does not have the appropriate applicationinstalled, such application may be automatically installed, or thecustomer may be directed to a location from which such application maybe downloaded and installed. The software component may then bedelivered 200, and should work as intended. The various other steps ofFIG. 2 may now take place, or may take place at some subsequent timeusing the software component as previously downloaded.

After downloading or otherwise accepting the software component, andassuming the customer has an appropriate image capture device, thecustomer now has the capability to make deposits from his generalpurpose computer. For example, the customer points his browser to a bankwebsite, where a link may be available that causes the bank server toinitiate a deposit transaction 201. The customer may be asked to log inusing a user name and password.

The customer may next be instructed to identify an account into whichthe deposit will be made 202. This can be done, for example, byproviding a webpage that lists the available accounts, along with aninstruction to select an account. Alternatively, a box may be providedinto which the customer may type an account number, along with anappropriate instruction to type the number of the desired account. Theaccount may be any account, and need not necessarily be the customer'sown account, although it is contemplated that a large number of customerdeposits may be made into the transacting customer's account, andembodiments may find it useful to restrict the allowed accounts to thecustomer's own accounts. In such embodiments, if the customer has justone account with the financial institution, step 202 may be eliminatedbecause the only available allowed account would be the customer'ssingle account.

The customer may next be instructed to identify an amount of a check orother negotiable instrument he wishes to deposit into the selectedaccount 203. In one embodiment, this can be done similarly to step 202by providing a webpage with a box into which the customer may type anamount, along with an appropriate instruction to type the amount of thecheck. The customer may also be instructed to endorse the check 204.

The customer may next be instructed to provide an image of a front sideof a check 205, for example, by using an image capture device. In oneembodiment, the customer may be instructed to place the check face downon a flatbed scanner, and may further be instructed as to the locationand orientation of the check on the scanner. If the customer isinstructed to take a digital photograph of the check using a digitalcamera, the customer may be instructed as to the position andorientation of the check, lighting, angle of camera, distance and focallength (zoom) of camera, and so forth. The software component may beuseful at this point in providing a graphical illustration of just howthe customer should provide the image. The customer may further be giveninstructions as to how to activate the image capture device and/or movethe image from the device to the general purpose computer.

In one embodiment, it is contemplated that the software component allowsfor control of the transaction and transaction data throughout thevarious aspects thereof. For example, the software component may open afolder in a storage location, such as the hard drive of thegeneral-purpose computer, and may work in conjunction with any softwarethat interfaces with the image capture device to deposit the image insuch folder. This may advantageously be conducted in a secure manner toprevent any unwanted image diversion or tampering. The hard drive of thegeneral-purpose computer is considered to be a storage location that iscontrolled by said customer-controlled general purpose computer, butother storage locations such as disk drives, networked drives, and soforth may also be effectively controlled by the general purposecomputer.

The software component may itself perform operations such as opening afolder and placing the images therein, or may effectively achieve suchoperations by instructing the customer and/or other applications to doso. All software operates to some extent under the control and with thesupport of an operating system running on the general purpose computer,and such support is of course appropriate in embodiments of theinvention.

The software component may next cause the image of the check to bepresented to the customer for editing, e.g. by asking the customer tocrop and/or rotate the check image to a predetermined orientation 206.In embodiments using a scanner, an image of the entire scanner bed, orsome otherwise too large image may be generated. If the check was placedin the top left corner of the scanner bed, the customer may be asked toindicate the bottom right corner of the check image, and the image maybe cropped to contain only the check image, thereby removing a portionof the originally obtained image.

An appropriately edited image of the check may be placed in the storagelocation 207. If further images are necessary 208, steps 205-207 may berepeated as necessary. For example, the customer may be instructed toendorse and provide an image of the back side of a check. To ensure thecheck is appropriately voided, the customer may be asked to write “void”on the check and re-scan the front of the check.

A log file may be generated 209 to collect data for processing ortroubleshooting the deposit transaction. The log file is discussedfurther in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5. The log file may be placed inthe storage location along with the various images of the check.

Once the desired images are collected and edited, they may be deliveredto the server for processing the deposit 210. The log file may also bedelivered at this time. Once such files are delivered, they may bedeleted from the customer's general purpose computer. If the serverdetermines that the delivered images and any corresponding data aresufficient to go forward with the deposit, the customer's account may beprovisionally credited, and a confirmation page may be delivered to thecustomer via the customer's browser application 212. The customer may beinstructed to destroy, e.g. by shredding, the actual physical check orother negotiable instrument. Under the current check handling proceduresin the United States, the physical check is not necessary in processinga deposit, nor is it necessary to keep the original check in bank orcustomer records.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for processing a check deposit. The methodof FIG. 3 is designed to complement that of FIG. 2 and to illustrateexemplary steps that may be carried out by a server or other electronicsoperated by a financial institution before, during, and after thevarious steps of FIG. 2 are carried out.

In general, as illustrated in FIG. 3, such server may receive a requestfor deposit at home capability 300A, and in response to such request maydeliver a software component to the requesting customer 300B. As withFIG. 2, intermediate steps may comprise determining if the customer isin fact eligible for a remote deposit program, and ensuring the customerhas an appropriate virtual machine environment installed on theirgeneral purpose computer—in embodiments where the software componentrequires such an environment.

A transaction may be initiated 301 upon receiving a customer indicationthat a deposit transaction is desired. The customer is instructed toidentify an account per FIG. 2, and as a result the financialinstitution electronics receive an account identifier (ID) 302.Similarly, financial institution electronics receive check amount 303.At this juncture the software component handles image capture processes,which may or may not involve the server until such time as checkimage(s) are received 304.

Upon receipt of check images, an Optical Character Recognition (OCR)process may be invoked to determine certain information about the check.For example, OCR may be performed on the check's MICR line location 305to determine information such as payor bank routing number, accountnumber, and check number. The bank routing number may then be validated306 against a list of valid routing numbers to ensure that itcorresponds to a legitimate bank, and in some embodiments, to ensure itcorresponds to a United States bank. In one embodiment, the OCR isconducted in real time, i.e. prior to confirming the deposit transactionfor the customer, so as to validate some initial deposit informationimmediately, and thereby filter transactions that may result in errorswere the OCR to be conducted at some later time. In other embodiments,certain efficiencies may be gained by performing “batch” OCR operationsat some later time.

In one embodiment, an OCR process can conveniently be applied to animage of a back side of a check in addition to performing OCR on theimage of the front side of said check. One problem that may occurinvolves customer submission of two front images, instead of one frontimage and one back image. OCR may be performed on a MICR line locationof an alleged image of a back side of said check to confirm that saidalleged image of a back side of said check does not bear a MICR line. Ifno MICR line is present in such location then it is more likely that thealleged image of a back side of said check is in fact the back, and notthe front, of the check.

Another advantageous use of OCR is on the endorsement location on theback of a check. By performing OCR, it may be possible in someembodiments to determine that the signature matches that of the payor ordrafter of the check. However, often signatures are illegible. Thus inone embodiment it is advantageous to determine that some mark orsignature is present in the endorsement location on the back of thecheck, without conducting any further signature identificationprocedures.

If the routing number determined using OCR cannot be validated, an errormay result 317, and the deposit transaction can be aborted. An errormessage can be delivered to the customer 314, explaining a reason thatthe transaction could not be processed.

A duplicate checking procedure may be carried out to determine whetherthe check was previously deposited 307. Determining whether a check is aduplicate can be processor- and memory-intensive, however, so thisoperation may be initially performed in a manner designed for speed andrough, if not complete, accuracy. More thorough duplicate detection maybe performed after the deposit transaction is confirmed 314. Forexample, in one embodiment, an initial duplicate detection process mayproceed as illustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 expands upon step 307 as illustrated in FIG. 3. To undertake atleast an initial, provisional duplicate checking procedure, checkidentification data may be compared against accumulated data forprevious check deposits 601. This may entail, for example, comparingcheck MICR line information against MICR lines for all checks depositedinto the transacting customer's account for the previous two weeks.Other embodiments are also possible, for example one might ensure a MICRline does NOT comprise a money amount, because a money amount in a MICRline indicates a check was already deposited. On might scan for a returnstamp on the front or back of the check. One might also look for anumber 4 in position 44 of the MICR line. Placing a 4 in position 44 isonly done when images of checks are made by banks. The fact that animage was made in general implies that the check was already presentedto a bank, and therefore it may be advantageous to ensure the check wasnot presented twice.

According to step 602, if the check deposit proceeds, appropriate checkidentification data for the deposited check may be added to theaccumulated data for previous deposits, so that it too will be availablefor use in subsequently identifying duplicate deposit attempts.

There are numerous possibilities for false positives in duplicatechecking 307. Because of this, it is advantageous in some embodiments toproceed with a deposit transaction despite the fact that a duplicate maybe initially identified. As illustrated in FIG. 3, if a duplicate isdetected, the transaction may be flagged for further scrutiny 315 at alater time, and the transaction may be allowed to proceed. If aduplicate is not detected, the transaction need not be flagged asabnormal and step 315 is unnecessary.

Returning to FIG. 3, OCR may further be performed on a check amountlocation 306, and the amount as determined using OCR may be comparedagainst the customer-entered amount received pursuant to step 303. Ifthe amounts do not match, an error 316 can result, terminating thetransaction and delivering appropriate information concerning the errorto the customer 314. OCR may further be performed on any other aspectsof the check image at this time if it is advantageous in specificembodiments to do so.

The server may further receive and modify a deposit transaction log file310. Alternative versions of the images received may be generated anplaced in the log file. Check 21 regulations require a bi-tonal TIFFformatted image, which is generally a low-quality image format ascompared to other available image formats. Therefore, it is desirable insome embodiments to retain both a “good” image in an initial format,e.g., in a JPEG format, as well as the modified bi-tonal TIFF requiredby Check 21. This way, if any troubleshooting is necessary, a good imageof the check remains available.

In some embodiments, a bank stamp may be overlaid on the image of theback of the check 311, just as if the check was physically deposited ata bank. Appropriate images may be forwarded to the payor bank forpayment 312, and meanwhile, the customer's account may be provisionallycredited in the amount of the check 313. A confirmation can be deliveredto the customer 314.

At 312, in one embodiment, the bank may forward an image or images to apayor bank. Provisionally crediting the customer account 513 anddelivering a confirmation to the customer-controlled general purposecomputer 514 may be done before, after, or contemporaneously with step312. In general, a provisional credit is subject to the check clearing,e.g., by receiving at the payee bank some confirmation that the checkwill be satisfied from the payor bank. This confirmation from the payorbank can take some time. Provisionally crediting the customers account513 and sending the confirmation 514 can assure the customer that thetransaction will proceed, even though it may not ultimately besuccessful.

In one embodiment, forwarding an image or images to a payor bank 512 maybe performed pursuant to an Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) transaction.ACH transactions typically include payment instructions to debit and/orcredit an account. Banks often employ ACH service providers to settleACH transactions. Examples of ACH service providers include regionalbranches of the Federal Reserve and the Electronic Payments Network(EPN).

In an ACH transaction, the payee's (customer's) bank may be referred toas the originating depository financial institution (ODFI). Upon receiptof appropriate check information, the payee's bank may credit funds tothe payee's account and generate an ACH debit entry to the payor'saccount, which may be presented to the ACH service provider forprocessing.

The ACH service provider may process the debit entry by identifying theaccount and bank from which the check is drawn. The bank from which thecheck is drawn (i.e., the payor's bank) may be referred to as areceiving depository financial institution (RDFI). If the payor's bankverifies the transaction, the ACH service provider may settle thetransaction by debiting the payor's bank and crediting the payee's bank.The payor's bank may then debit the payor's account.

A substitute check is typically a paper reproduction of an originalcheck and may be the legal equivalent of the original check. Substitutechecks were authorized under The Check Clearing for the 21st CenturyAct, commonly known as Check 21. The Act was enacted to facilitate thecheck clearing process by allowing banks to transmit electronic imagesof checks (e.g., substitute checks) to other banks rather thanphysically sending the original paper checks. Check 21 does not requirethat banks use substitute checks. In fact, many banks may have voluntaryagreements to accept certain electronic images of checks even though theimages may not qualify as substitute checks under Check 21. If a bankdoes not have a voluntary agreement and/or refuses to accept anelectronic image, the financial institution is required under Check 21to accept a substitute check in lieu of the original check.

The bank may process the ACH debit entry, substitute check, and/orelectronic image. As noted above, the bank may present the ACH debitentry to an ACH service provider (e.g., EPN), which may be responsiblefor settling the transaction between the payee's bank and the payor'sbank. The bank also may convert the digital image into a substitutecheck and present the substitute check to an intermediary bank (e.g., aregional branch of the Federal Reserve) to complete the check clearingprocess. If the payor's bank and the payee's bank are the same, thetransaction can be handled internally at the payor bank by simplydebiting the account of one customer and crediting the account ofanother. Thus, an intermediate step may comprise identifying if thepayor bank and the payee bank are one and the same, or otherwiseoperating in a closely cooperative manner.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are directed to methods for processing check deposits,with particular applicability to generation and use of an appropriatelog file. With reference to FIG. 4, a bank server and/or relatedelectronics can receive a request for “deposit at home” or remotedeposit capability 400A, and deliver a software component to acustomer's general purpose computer 400B as described above. In general,a transaction may begin 401 and proceed as described with regard toFIGS. 2 and 3. The three dots in FIG. 4 are a general reference to stepsof a deposit transaction that may occur. In the course of suchtransaction, a log file maybe generated, for example by a softwarecomponent on a customer-controlled general purpose computer. The logfile comprises log file data, and may be delivered to the server by thesoftware component. Log file data may comprise, for example the dataillustrated in the log file 500 in FIG. 5.

In one embodiment, a financial institution server may receive one ormore check images 404, and may receive log file data from the softwarecomponent 405. Other embodiments are will be readily recognized aspossible, such as placing the images in the log file and combining steps404 and 405, or streaming raw data absent any sort of file structure,and allowing the server to generate a file upon receipt of such data.

Step 406 comprises converting an image from a first format to a secondformat. In one embodiment, the first format is, for example, arelatively high-quality Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format,such as might be initially generated by the image capture device used bya customer in producing the check image. Due to its high quality, suchan image provides a good tool for subsequently troubleshooting a deposittransaction. For example, it might be readily determined if the imagerepresents a check that was previously deposited by simple humaninspection of both images.

The second format is, in one embodiment, a format that complies withbank-to-bank image transfer requirements. Currently, the image formatrequired by Check 21 is the bi-tonal Tag Image File Format (TIFF).Therefore the second format may be, for example, a bi-tonal Tag ImageFile Format (TIFF).

In a further embodiment, the images in both formats can be retained, forexample, in the log file. Each image is useful for its own purpose—thefirst for troubleshooting, the second for regulatory compliance andbusiness necessity. Thus, step 407 illustrates generating a log filewith log file data and images. The term “generating” may be exchangedfor “modifying” in some embodiments, e.g. where the log file wasreceived from the software component, and simply modified to furthercomprise an additional check image that is in a different format. Thegenerating step 407 may be broken into a plurality of steps, each stepfor generating an aspect of log file 500 in FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an exemplary log file 500 is illustrated andexamples of data that may be placed in the log file 500 are listed. Ingeneral, a log file can advantageously comprise an identification of animage capture device used to generate an image of a check, for example ascanner make and model, digital camera make and model, or otheridentification information such as an image capture device Global UniqueIdentifier (GUID). This identification information may also include anidentification of software associated with the device, for example thefamiliar TWAIN drivers that can be used with scanners, digital cameras,and other image capture devices.

Furthermore, with regard to log file 500, a customer operating systemcan comprise an identification of the operating system used by thecustomer's general purpose computer. A customer browser version cancomprise the browser used by the customer's general purpose computer.Image capture device make and model may comprise the type of imagecapture device, manufacturer, and model number. “JAVA version” maycomprise a version of the JAVA virtual machine software used by thecustomer's general purpose computer, or, if .NET technologies are used,the version of the .NET Framework. Transaction data may compriseinformation such as transaction ID, account number, customer name,amount of deposit, check routing number, check number, check accountnumber, and so forth. Reason for error may be provided if an erroroccurred—for example, due to an invalid check routing number, differentamounts identified by the customer and the OCR process, etc. Finally,the “good” image (customer generated image) and the “required” image(required for bank-to-bank image transfer) may also be included.

The log file 500 may be consumed by a troubleshooting or log fileviewing application 501. Such an application may be provided tofinancial institution employees to view log files and solve problemsassociated with particular deposits. The application 501 may alsocollect statistical information and the like regarding all log files.

The various techniques described herein may be implemented with hardwareor software or, where appropriate, with a combination of both. Thus, themethods and apparatus of the disclosed embodiments, or certain aspectsor portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e.,instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes,CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other machine-readable storage medium,wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine,such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing thedisclosed embodiments. In the case of program code execution onprogrammable computers, the computer will generally include a processor,a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile andnon-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input deviceand at least one output device. One or more programs are preferablyimplemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programminglanguage to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s)can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In anycase, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, andcombined with hardware implementations.

The described methods and apparatus may also be embodied in the form ofprogram code that is transmitted over some transmission medium, such asover electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via anyother form of transmission, wherein, when the program code is receivedand loaded into and executed by a machine, such as an EPROM, a gatearray, a programmable logic device (PLD), a client computer, a videorecorder or the like, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicingthe invention. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, theprogram code combines with the processor to provide a unique apparatusthat operates to perform the processing of the disclosed embodiments.

In addition to the specific implementations explicitly set forth herein,other aspects and implementations will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from consideration of the specification disclosed herein. It isintended that the specification and illustrated implementations beconsidered as examples only, with a true scope and spirit of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a processor; and a memorystoring processor-executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to: receive an account identificationnumber, check amount indication, and check image, where the check imageis an image of a check captured by a camera; perform optical characterrecognition on the check image to determine a routing number for thecheck image; validate the routing number for the check image; andinitiate a check deposit for the check image.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the processor-executable instructions cause the processor toinitiate the check deposit by provisionally crediting a financialaccount associated with the account identification number.
 3. The systemof claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions further causethe processor to forward the check image to a payor bank.
 4. The systemof claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions further causethe processor to overlay a bank stamp on the check image.
 5. The systemof claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions further causethe processor to determine whether a check shown in the check image waspreviously deposited.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein theprocessor-executable instructions further cause the processor to:determine a check amount from the check image; and compare the checkamount determined from the check image with the received check amountindication.
 7. A system comprising: a plurality of processors, eachhaving a memory associated therewith, that execute instructions to:receive an account identification number, check amount indication, andcheck image, where the check image is an image of a check captured by acamera; perform optical character recognition on the check image todetermine a routing number for the check image; validate the routingnumber for the check image; and initiate a check deposit for the checkimage.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor-executableinstructions cause the plurality of processors to initiate the checkdeposit by provisionally crediting a financial account associated withthe account identification number.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein theprocessor-executable instructions further cause the plurality ofprocessors to forward the check image to a payor bank.
 10. The system ofclaim 7, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause theplurality of processors to overlay a bank stamp on the check image. 11.The system of claim 7, wherein the processor-executable instructionsfurther cause the plurality of processors to determine whether a checkshown in the check image was previously deposited.
 12. The system ofclaim 7, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause theplurality of processors to: determine a check amount from the checkimage; and compare the check amount determined from the check image withthe received check amount indication.
 13. The system of claim 7, whereinthe processor-executable instructions further cause the plurality ofprocessors to determine whether the check shown in the check image waspreviously deposited.
 14. A system for processing a check deposit,comprising: a plurality of processors, each having a memory associatedtherewith, configured to execute instructions to: receive a customeridentification of an account for a deposit; receive an image of a frontside of a check captured by a camera, wherein the image of the frontside of the check is received from a remote device; receive an image ofa back side of the check captured by the camera, from the remote device;process the image of the front side of the check to obtain depositinformation for the check; process the image of the back side of thecheck to determine whether a mark is present on the image of the backside of the check by: determining whether a mark is present at anendorsement location in the image of the back side of the check withoutfurther performing a signature identification procedure; and generate alog file, the log file comprising at least a portion of the depositinformation for the check.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein theprocessor-executable instructions cause the plurality of processors toinitiate the check deposit by provisionally crediting a financialaccount associated with the account identification number.
 16. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the processor-executable instructionsfurther cause the plurality of processors to forward the check image toa payor bank.
 17. The system of claim 14, wherein theprocessor-executable instructions further cause the plurality ofprocessors to overlay a bank stamp on the check image.
 18. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the processor-executable instructions further causethe plurality of processors to: determine a check amount from the checkimage; and compare the check amount determined from the check image withthe received check amount indication.